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Topic: Double Gloucester...The First (Read 6777 times)

I only have...ummmm...9-11 months left on my cheddars to reach that age! lol I will be cracking one open at around 6 months though, just to check progress. Oh...and I have that short aged one that I need to check on. I may do that tomorrow

Well done! A cheese to you for waiting it out. I've just unwaxed my Cheddar, which is a week shy of 1 year. I won't be cutting it until it's reached its birthday, but want to air it out a bit. It's comming to Canada with me to share with my family (all indications are that I can take cheddar into Canada from New Zealand). All my waxed or bagged cheeses end up with a "white wine" aroma to them, which fades as they air out over a few days.

All my waxed or bagged cheeses end up with a "white wine" aroma to them, which fades as they air out over a few days.

Thanks for the cheese, Jeff.

Yeah, I've sensed a similar aroma. A little air and a little warming (to room temp) help to transport that cheese that has been living in its own little world into a totally different creature. A cheese transformed!

Sounds like the family's in for some tasty treats imported all the way from New Zealand. Excellent! Should be sweet.

I finally figure out what cheeses I'm making next and you have to go and throw another great one out there.

The way it works is...you make a long-aging cheese and shove it to the back of the cave. Then, make another cheese and shove it to the back of the cave.... Pretty soon, the cheese that your first shoved to the back of the cave is in front now and ready to cut.

I only have...ummmm...9-11 months left on my cheddars to reach that age! lol I will be cracking one open at around 6 months though, just to check progress. Oh...and I have that short aged one that I need to check on. I may do that tomorrow

It is tough sometimes to wait for a cheese to "do its thing". You can try to cure that anticipation by making more cheeses and/or by putting a label on the cheese detailing when it was made and the targeted date for cutting. Having that target may help clarify things. The chemical and biological changes that are occurring in a long-aged cheese convert it from a bland dairy product lacking character into an amazing dairy creation unmatched in gustatory pleasure something totally different. Cutting into it before it has undergone those changes robs it and you of what it could be. Patience, grasshopper. I'm being pushed now to cut into a couple cheeses with a mere six months affinage. I keep telling myself "Too early!!"

The way it works is...you make a long-aging cheese and shove it to the back of the cave. Then, make another cheese and shove it to the back of the cave.... Pretty soon, the cheese that your first shoved to the back of the cave is in front now and ready to cut.

It is tough sometimes to wait for a cheese to "do its thing". You can try to cure that anticipation by making more cheeses and/or by putting a label on the cheese detailing when it was made and the targeted date for cutting. Having that target may help clarify things. The chemical and biological changes that are occurring in a long-aged cheese convert it from a bland dairy product lacking character into an amazing dairy creation unmatched in gustatory pleasure something totally different. Cutting into it before it has undergone those changes robs it and you of what it could be. Patience, grasshopper. I'm being pushed now to cut into a couple cheeses with a mere six months affinage. I keep telling myself "Too early!!"

-Boofer-

I plan on letting almost all of them age a year, maybe one or 2 longer. I do want to hit one at 6 months just to see how they are coming tho....I do love me some aged cheddar! When they get those little crystals going ...yumm! Not sure how long that takes but I suspect thats a multi-year aged cheese since the couple I have eaten that were like that were 3 or 5 year cheddars.

I've got a bunch of cheddar types (a cheddar, a dunlop, and a derby) and a gouda comming up on a year right now, and small 1/4 wheel of cheshire that's over a year now too. I also have a manchego that is approaching 2 years (early Feb), and a 1/4 wheel piece of gouda that will be 2 years (end of this dec). There's also 3/4s of my first manchego that will be 2 years in Feb, and a romano that will be 2 years in March. I've got two other full wheels of manchego that will age away as we're just finishing up the first 1/4 wheel piece.

Caerphilly, Lancashires, staffordshire, and butterkase are great cheeses to make for quick consumption, and these really help one wait it out for the others. Semi-lactics are another great way to make a cheese for relatively quick and satisfying eating, especially as the cave gets full as they are so simple you can make simple 2 litre makes with little effort. Cam's and blues are also ready in a month or two (three if you age it out for 90 days). I'm also finding washed rind cheeses are a good way to get some nice results in a relatively short while.

MMmmmm, so many cheeses, so much time!

- Jeff

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The wise do not always start out on the right path, but they do know when to change course.

Thanks Jeff. I really want to make one of these but don't want to have that kind of pressure set up on a press as we often have small children, grand kids and friends kids, playing in the downstairs where I have my cheese making equipment. I'm certain they would never go near any of it but, when it comes to small children, I never make assumptions about what they will do or what can happen to hurt them.

It has been a while since I saw this puppy, but I was rooting around in the cooler and decided this needed to be tested and tasted.

I pulled the pic of when the cheese went into the vacuum bag to compare it to the pic 2 years later.

The vacuum bag storage does strange things to the rind of most of the hard and semi-hard cheeses I make. Seems like a bit of a toss-up as to which rind is more desirable. A lot of the natural rinds really must be removed to enjoy the cheese, but the rind in the vacuum bag is edible albeit...strange. (That's a little strange. )

The cheese slices, but has a tendency to spall or break off in shards (like bad concrete). The salt level was initially a little shy and hasn't improved in time. The flavor is slightly sharp. When a small shard is placed in the mouth, it more or less dissolves on the tongue, opening up the character that this cheese has been quietly developing over the previous 2 years.

A cheese to you! The "shards" or crumble looks great. That's a very nice looking aged cheese. Melts nicely too. Sounds like the flavour is pretty good. I would have expected it to be sharp by 2 years, but I'm not sure if vac sealing slows down that progression? Regardless, a nice outcome.

- Jeff

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The wise do not always start out on the right path, but they do know when to change course.